Means for representing cascades in landscapes



May v J A. BURNHAM I MEANS FOR REPRESENTING CASCADES IN LANDSCAPES Filed ra on 6. 1 926 5) [arm mm .gqk x Inventor J 7 a.Bu/7'7171w771 @WQLAAA KW Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES.-

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. B'U'EII'IITAJVE, 0F MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS! MEANS'FOR REPRESENTING CASCADES IN LANDSCAPES.

Appllcatiamfiledllamcha, 1026 Serial No. 92,787..

pealing window display for tourist agencies and the like, and for other coinniercialuses, and as a work of art.

The scenic beauty found in numerous. of

natures playgrounds cannot. be appreciated fully without actual seeing. A better ap prcciation by the general. public of these,- natural reservoirs of scenic beauty unquestionably would have a tendency toward Stink ulating travel to these points. Photographs and paintings fall far short becaaise they are necessarily still, in their showing of a. scene in which the key feature is water in action.

By such portrayalsthe real beauty is. great- 1y diminished. It is the object oithe invention to. provide so that falling water may be simulated in the midst ot a reproduction. oi scenery whose stillportions may be painted or may include miniature rocks,..trees, etc.., in relief, to the end that a realistic and'il-ive representation or a desired landscapeinay be had. Animportantieature} resides inthe details oi structure whereby the substance which produces the. illusion of i'alli (I water is realistic in producing the aspect o wwiter fall-ing ata little distance while another lies in the device for keeping the sceneryfresh, by segregating the same in: compartment separate from that occupied by saidsub stance, and providing a clear. glass thin Wall? Ofyllllfi said compartment through-which the water is seen and by whiehthe substance composing it is. separated from the scenery; A further ieature resides in they provisionof means 01 controllingand regulating the How of the simulated falling water.

terize the illustrated structure are gained by causing a suitable substancev to cascade be; hind an opening in the scenery covered by a thin sheet of transparentmaterial, pret' erably clear glass, which. tightly secured in.

a substantially vertical position.v This isaccomplished byproyidinga partition arranged so as todivide the llltellOLflDflllfi. device. as a whole into front and rear com-- partni'ents. Forward of this partition. the scenic representation otlandscape is r0- vided,. partly in reliet and partly painte 1 on the walls. andpartitionof the device, suit able representations of rocks, ledges and trees beingmade. around the invisible glass sheet, soars-to indicate thedi versi-ty of elevations which attend a water fall. -.A sec on dsheet, which may be of bluish cathedra-l, glass or may be a suitablypaintedwall, Y may be arranged in'the rear-compartment,

behind, parallel. to and slightly spaced from thetransparent sheet, thus constituting both a. guide. for the material of the cascade when it is running and a still simulation ot the cascade when the living tall is not inaction.

Ferthelatter, water or otherordinary liq;

uidwil'l not serve, but Ihavediscovered that a. powdered dry white solid can be usedsu'c cessfulliy. In large dimension.embodiments ofitheinvention I believe that a fine team will serve, itforced to moverapidly.

The narrow passage provided between the twospaced. sheets extends downward from the. throatof supply container from which the powdered white solid is: slowlyreleased, to become visible tothe beholder introntas it 'i'allsbelrind. the transparent sheet. The lower end oi! the passage is open, int0 the bottom part of the. rear compartment. Thence thet'allen substance may be returned tothe supply container in any desired. manner. A damper. or shutter may be provided inthe throat of the container for, restricting. and controlling-dire flow of the fallingsubstance into the passage. The-front com- I pertinent may preferably be closedby aprotectingfaceplate oi' glass. The rear conipartment preiierably has walls which conceal its. interior from view. r V

'llieinventi'onis adaptable to varied i uses, one of which is. illustrated in the. accompanymg; drawings. Itisi intended. that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in the appended; claims whatever features of patentv ableinovelty exist in theinvcntion disclosed. The object and the features whichcharac- Inthe drawings:

Figure 1 is a iiront elevation oii a device showing the invention. embodied in apparatus adaptedto stand on ashelf or table;

Figure 2 is an elevation. in section on line partments 16, 18, respectively.

ll. rising from a base 9. The interior of the casing is divided by a substantially vertical partition lel into front and reancom- The front of the former is closed by a transparent glass plate and the latter is completely.

ater as at the foot of a cascade is represented at 26; and it s to improvedmeans for simulatlng the cascade that the.

invention more particularly relates. To

this end the partition 14 contains a thin sheet 28 of glass, inserted in an opening formed in partition 14 at the place w11ere the cascade is to appear; and it is 11np0rtant that the said opening be completely sealed. The medium for representing the falling water is thus securely maintained in the rear compartment while the visual effect of its cascade is seen with the contents of the front compartment. The said medium consists preferably of a finely divided, noncohesive white solid 30. Minute white glass beads are preferable in this capacity al though a selected White sandor powder has been used with good effect. The smooth universally rounded surfaces of the fine glass globules produce for them a un1formity 'of'flow, with discontinuity and free. movement of individuals in the mass, which with the reflection of light from each, strik ingly simulates the efiect of foam ina water fall. The current of finely divided solid particles as shown at 25, issues at a restricted rate from thethroat of a container 32 arranged in the upper portion of the rear compartment. In aspect the cascade may express any of a wide range of ideas which the art of the designer may conceive, "For example, in Figure 1, in addition to the main cascade 25 there'is a lateral cascade 27, accomplished by providing at a suitable point an obstruction 36, seen in dottedlines in Figure 1, in the path of some of the eascading substance which is falling behind the scenery so as to divert it when part Way down so that the diverted flow first appears to view as at 27. If desirediashutter may be employed fol-controlling the degree of restriction to which the flow from the container is subject. While thismay be arranged in any suitable way it is here represented by showing the rear wall 3 1- of the supply container- 32 as being supported on a pin 33 and adjustable in position by a'cam to on a shaft 33 having a control knob A back wall. for the cascade passage indi- .cated at 38, comprises, a sheet which serves charges into'the bottom of the rear. compart-' ment 18.

InFigur'e 2 the supply container 32 is shown as having its rear wall 34 considerably spaced from the rear wall of the rear compartment 18, and not rising'to the top thereof. This device lends itself to the quick replenishing of thesupply. The uppa ratus illustrated can be set for operation of the cascade'by rotating the casing in the direction indicated by the arrow at the upper right hand corner, turning it about its supporting shaft 8, through 360. This movementcauses the substance which has fallen to the bottom of the rear ment 18 to'slide freely along the bottom, thencealong the rear wall of the casing 10, and thence along its top and. past the top of the supply container wall. into the con ratchet mechanism h) may be a tainer Us. 7 employed to prevent the turning of the easing 10 in'the wrong direction; and a latch 42 to indicate and hold the casing in correct 7 vertical position for operation of the-cascade after each said turning. Any suitable mechanical means (none being shown) may be provided for intermittently turning the casing 10; and it shouldbe understood that other means for replenishing the container, such as a power conveyer'or the like within a stationary non-rotatablecasing may be used in cases where the device is built upon a sufliciently large scale, as for window dis-,

play, as for example, for continuous 'opera tion in the display window of a tourist.

ticket agency.

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I have found that in the smaller sizes of this device common water cannot success fully beused tosimulate" the cascade. "But by introducing an aspect of discontinuity between adjacent particles" I have made'the same successful as a representation of water by use of a quasi-fluid cascading substance such as a finely divided solid. The powder must be non-hygroscopic to the extent that its particles do not adhere together. And the liquid, if a liquid be used should have such infinitesimal skin'tension that its bub-c bles or drops will separate likewise or will appear to do sobecause ofthepressurerof an infinitude of extremely small lights and shadows, which may occur in the case of such-finely divided foam that an aspect of discontinuity appears in adjacent particles, these being too small to' be readily separated fit by the eye of the beholder, coupled with sufficient density to fall rapidly. In a large sized apparatus this can be accomplished much more perfectly than in a small one, because the skin tension of the liquid does not favor the division of the liquid into extremely small masses. It a liquid is used continuous circulation can be maintained by use of a suitable small pump.

In either case the clear glass 28 maintains inviolate the incidental scenery, set around the cascade, notwithstanding the inversions of the casing and the violent movements otherwise of particles o't'the water-sinnilating substance, without which protective element 528 the scenery Will quickly lose its realistic aspect.

I claim as my invention: 7 1. In a device for representing a land scapewhich includes a cascade, the combisimulating the cascade, comprising a White substance adapted tofall by gravity past an opening in the scenery; and a transparent partition at said opening separating the said scenery and the falling substance whereby both are visible as parts of one whole although maintained always physically apart; there being a container divided into a front compartment, containing said scenery and a rear compartment containing said substance;

and there being a circuit passage provided in the latter for the substance, comprising means for guiding the falling substance past the said opening, and for guiding its return 7 holding said mass above the opening and adapted to discharge, by gravity, a thin, flat stream of said beads past the opening.

In a device for representing a landscape which includes a cascade, the combination, with a wall having incidental scenery associated therewith on its front side and having an opening, of means for simu-v lating the cascade, comprising a white subnation, with incldental scenery, of means for stance falling past in rear of said opening; a container for said substance and a transparent partition constituting a guide fiattening the falling stream at said opening and constituting a barrier separating the said scenery and the falling substance-whereby both are visible as parts of one whole although maintained always physically apart.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this first day of March 1926.

JOHN A; BURNHAM. 

